Don’t Expect Las Vegas Raiders Stadium Ticket Sales To Be Hurt By Brown’s Messy Departure

By Alan Snel

LVSportsBiz.com

 

OAKLAND –– Wide receiver/video producer/human distraction/news machine Antonio Brown is gone from the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders.

But don’t expect ticket sales at the Raiders’ new stadium off the Strip to be affected next season.

The Raiders generated more than expected personal seat license revenues and recently won approval from the local Las Vegas stadium authority to go ahead and spend another $40 million on added club and technology improvements for a palatial venue projected to be built by July 31, 2020.

Brown would have added an extra buzz to the hype of the Raiders’ first season in Las Vegas. And he would have added lots of colorful and bizarre material for local Las Vegas sports reporters.

But I expect sellouts for every home game in Las Vegas when the Raiders arrive next season. And I expect a major chunk of the fans — in the 40 percent range — to be out-of-town football fans following their favorite teams from around the country or coming from both northern and southern California where the Raiders have strong fan bases.

The Raiders do face pressure to have a competitive product on the field when they move into the domed, 65,000-seat stadium, which is being funded — in part — by $750 million in public dollars from Southern Nevada. The entire project is costing the Raiders $1.9 billion, including $1.37 billion for the construction of the stadium.

The Raiders open their 2019 season Monday night when they host the Denver Broncos at the Coliseum in the first game of the last season in Oakland.

*

Follow LVSportsBiz.com on Twitter and Instagram. Like LVSportsBiz.com on Facebook.